Facing an uncertain future as a band, Uniform have put their all into their latest album American Standard and in doing so, have made not only the best album of their career so far, (no mean feat as albums like Shame and The Long Walk as well as essential collaborations with Boris and The Body), but possibly the best album released this year, and any artist will have to go some to compete with the sheer sonic power of American Standard.
With vocalist/synth player Michael Berdan unashamedly bearing his soul and sharing his struggle with eating disorders on the album lyrically (ahead of the records release, Berdan also penned an extensive essay on this) and assisted with the sheer power of Uniforms sonic assault, the results are so intense, that they will blow you clean away, as there is not a second spared as Uniform lay everything bare and the resulting four tracks are nothing short of immense.
The title track of American Standard opens the album and does so in an epic fashion with its industrialised blast and harrowing screams taking your breath away as they emerge without warning, and continues to do so for the first three quarters of the track, with only the last segment taking the intensity down a bit, and adds a more triumphant layer of noise to proceedings.
That opening twenty minute epic is instantly as good as the majority of full length albums but from then on, there is much more to go and the quality and potency never lets up, not even for a brief moment and you will be enthralled and horrified in equal measure.
The relentless industrial pulse of ‘This Is Not A Prayer’ and the gargantuan sounding ‘Clemency’ follow as more and more pain is dealt with and will leave you reeling before the pummelling finality of ‘Permanent Embrace’ sonically and emotionally ends things in a perfect way.
American Standard is by no means an easy listening experience but it is one that is truly essential and so worth it, and you will undoubtedly struggle to hear a more honest and affecting album from this year or for any other for that matter, and with their uncertain future looking thankfully much brighter, we will hopefully hear a lot more from Uniform in the future. Whether they will match the sheer intensity of American Standard remains to be seen, but for now you will find yourself in awe at the unashamed raw honesty that is contained in these four tracks.
